Thank you NetGalley and the publishers of While We're Young.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete this novel. It has nothing to do with the writing or plot but simply that it’s not in my age bracket. I found it very cute, fun and perfect for teens/YA! This is something I would definitely recommend to all the young adults/teens in my life. The plot was fun, full of different secrets and issues to be solved. Really felt like I was watching a rom-com movie or tv show! I just couldn’t really connect with any of the characters or what was going on, which I highly believe is due to me being older. I would’ve absolutely loved this as a teen.

4/5 ⭐️

A perfect homage to Ferris Bueller's day off and sure to delight young readers! This YA coming of age high school romance features four friends, narrated with a full cast, and has them skipping school for a fun-filled skip day where they explore Philadelphia and confess to long-held crushes and secrets. I really enjoyed this latest from K L Walter! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Was this a nostalgic, cute read for millennials? Absolutely. It certainly captured the essence of the time, offering a fun trip down memory lane. However, it also came with its fair share of drawbacks, namely its slow pace, occasional repetition, and tendency to be a bit long-winded.

As a Ferris Bueller fan, I was genuinely excited to start reading this ARC, but I found it challenging to fully immerse myself in the story. The “morning” section seemed to drag on for what felt like an eternity, and then, almost out of nowhere, it was suddenly afternoon, and the plot seemed to have moved on without much progression. I also had difficulty distinguishing between the FOUR different points of view, as they often felt blended together, which made it harder to stay engaged with the characters' individual stories.

That being said, the idea and plot were undeniably charming and full of potential. The author’s creativity shone through, and I appreciated the overall concept, but I couldn’t help but wish the execution had been a little tighter to keep the momentum going.

K.L. Walther's books are the ultimate comfort reads, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of my ultimate comfort movies, so I knew I would enjoy WHILE WE'RE YOUNG! And of course, I was right. The story follows Grace, Isa, Everett, and James, high school seniors whose relationships are messier and more complicated than ever. Grace, Isa, and Everett used to be an unbreakable trio before Everett broke Isa's heart freshman year—and Grace is secretly in love with Everett now. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Grace, Isa has been hanging out with Grace's brother James...which, if Grace finds out, could ruin their friendship, too. When Grace gets the idea to launch her own "senior skip day" spent exploring Philadelphia, will she be able to bring the group back together once and for all?

This was such a fun, entertaining read! I love the way Walther portrays family and friend group dynamics in her books, and this one was no different! The romances were both so sweet as well. She also does a great job of incorporating more serious topics into the lighthearted tone of the story, from coping with grief to the ways in which friendships can change and shift throughout a person's life. Even though the story only takes place over one day, the pacing felt really well-done overall (except for maybe the ending, which I wish had been drawn out a little more!), and you still feel like you truly get to know these characters. One thing that didn't entirely work for me was the multiple POVs—I understood why they were included, and liked how we got to see all the friendships/relationships/character journeys from different viewpoints, but I feel like the story could have worked just as well with a single or dual POV instead. Still, I really liked this one, and can definitely see myself revisiting it in the future! And as always, I can't wait to see what K.L. Walther writes next. Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for the ARC.

3.5 stars

This is a YA romance & Ferris Bueller's Day Off spinoff, except the kids live in Philadelphia. I am from the Philly area and for that reason enjoyed the book more than I thought I would (or should). Basically, there is a friend group of 4 kids who are going through some rocky life things: death, breakups, anxiety & depression, family drama, and getting ready for college). Their friendship circle has weakened recently, and things just aren't the same. One of them decides to fake sick to blow off school & rounds up the friend group to go on a wild all-day adventure. It was very YA-coded and predictable, but I enjoyed seeing the kids run through the city and hit all the landmarks such as the art museum steps, the Liberty Bell, and Pats & Genos (which let's be real, neither). There was a whole Philly Phanatic costume bit.

I would recommend this if YA romance is your jam, but if not, it's a skip for sure.

Four high schoolers who have been connected since childhood (and their parents’ remain friends) skip a day in high school to reconnect and go on an adventure. It is to help a friend go through a hard grieving day as well. For some of them it’s an unheard of act while for another it’s just another day.

Little do they know this single day will fix all their friendships and relationships. It’s a simple and feel good story about friends and family.

A little too predictable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book!

If you want a fun, light read tangled up with inspiration from Ferris Buller's Day Off, look no further!

The first little bit is heavy on the cliches, but only because K.L. Walther is really laying the basis of the story in the nostalgia of the beloved film. Once the adventure really got rolling, I was sucked in and loved every bit of the ride! In this fresh, modernized tale, it was fun to see the characters become their own, while still having that twinge of the characters we love. I feel like the characters had complicated emotions at times & they were really there for each other.

It made me want to return to high school just for a ditch day! Just joking, but it was a fun read that I will be recommending to others!

I loved Walther’s other books, so I had high hopes for this one and it delivered!! I read While We’re Young so fast- such a great story. Definitely choosing it for bookclub when it comes out!

This was a super cute book, and I know the romance readers in my high school library are going to be big fans of this one. I definitely got the Ferris Bueller vibes!

I was so excited to start reading this one because it's a take on Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and it takes places in Philadelphia (which is my city!). I was looking forward to exploring the city and having a fun filled skip day. When I discovered the high school that the students went to, I was even more excited. I'm a teacher in the same district as that school, and I was familiar with most of the places that they went to in the suburbs and the city.

The book starts off on a gross note, and it almost made me DNF. Trigger Warning- there was throwing up at the start. The description of it almost made me throw up.

From there, the story is told from the POV of four different characters: Grace and James, who are siblings, and Isa and Everett. Their relationship dynamic was very complicated, and at several points in the story, I got lost about which POV I was reading.

Grace and James used to be close, but they have grown apart. James and Isa are secretly dating, and Grace and Everett have feelings for each other, but they can't be together because Isa and Everett used to date.

Grace decides to convince Isa and 'kidnap' Everett to have a skip day in Philadelphia, and when James finds out, he wants to join them.

Overall, their skip day was lackluster. The places that they went to were boring and unoriginal. The conflict could have been resolved with conversations, and the miscommunication was too much for me.

I really enjoyed several of K.L. Walther's books, but this one was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me with an ARC!

Things I liked:
1. Each of the characters had a secret that made their interactions with the others very interesting. Since there were 4 povs, we got to see them try to hide things from the others, and we got to also see it from the povs of people who didn’t know the secret yet.
2. The friendships. Even though this is a romance novel, the main plot is bringing a lost friend group back together. I really thought this was the best part of it, especially since there were so many misunderstandings that eventually got cleared up.

Things I didn’t like (as much):
1. There were four povs, and they all felt the exact same for me. The voices were too similar and it was hard to remember whose pov I was on, as most of them took place at the same location with the same people
2. The romance. Nobody fell in love in this book, everyone already was practically dating. The entire plot was them sharing that they were dating with the other characters because they kept it a secret.

I had a fun time reading this, but I would probably recommend K. L. Walther’s other books (esp The Summer of Broken Rules) over this one

This was such a fun Ferris Bueller retelling! It perfectly captured the chaos of the original film, but the updated character dynamics and POVs took it to the next level. A total delight.

"While We're Young," by KL Walther is retelling of Ferris Bueller's Day Off where three friends: Isa, Everett, and Grace escape to the city on an adventure. Grace's brother, James, was left out of the plan, and spends the whole day figuring out where the three are. Overall, the adventure was fun to follow, some of the twists were a little predictable, but still enjoyable. I liked the secrets aspect but over the course of the book, it started to become repetitive. I think the characters felt a little one-dimensional because of the memory parts, I feel like I did not get to really delve into the character's minds. However, I loved the childhood friends dynamic and overall the vibes of the book were really fun!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book I feel is gonna be a great summer read, I love the parallels to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because who doesn’t love a senior skip day! I am also a Philadelphia born and raised girl and I loved all the references to Philly! It is for sure more of a YA novel but that doesn’t make it any less good I just think it’s more targeted towards a younger audience. She does a great job of putting some representation of depression in there and I just love all the adventure throughout the book. It’s also very cool that she has four perspectives going on, made it very interesting and fast paced. Overall a great book and I appreciated the eARC very much!

I never really liked "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", but I love KL Walther so I thought I would give this a shot and I loved it! I was super intrigued by the dynamics between the four main characters and the push and pull between all of them. I especially loved James and his rivalry with the principal.

Grace is one month away from graduating high school. As class president and the family golden child, she never takes a break. Until she decides to fake sick and plan an entire day with her two best friends. Best friends who haven't spoken to each other in 4 years after their break up. All friends have a secret they need to share. But will the secrets between them cause their whirlwind day to end in disaster?

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC! This one was cute. The Ferris Bueller vibe was fun if a little unrealistic (but that did add to the appeal as that movie is also unrealistic). I liked that it was a twist on a girl and that the girl just wanted to create a perfect day to heal a group friendship her senior year. The siblings and their love interests (& that’s what causes the chase of the sibling rather than the animosity of one sibling toward another like the Ferris movie) was a nice touch. Taken as a fun read, this one fits the bill. FYI It’s fairly clean but does reference sex (which seemed a little rushed just saying), but I didn’t see any harm, and there was talk of responsibility and using protection so woot for that! Some profanity

4.5/5 rounded up

Thank you Delacorte Romance for the advanced reading copy!

I loved this book so much — just like I loved K. L. Walther’s other books!

WHILE WE’RE YOUNG is a super fun take on Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but set in Philly. This is the type of YA romances that I love, because it doesn’t “dumb down” the character conflict or development, just presents it in an age appropriate way. This book also has some heavier topics, like grief (CW — parental death off page), that I thought were handled with grace.

I had so much fun reading this book. It was joyful from start to finish, even in the moments that were hard and sad. The friendship amongst Grace, Isa, Ev & James was so sweet, and it felt very special to see the ways they grew back together. The conflicts didn’t drag (a pet peeve of mine) and there was enough chaos to make the book entertaining but not infuriating. And the romance — oh my gosh. This is what teenage love is made of!!! So pure and sweet and whole-hearted. I really loved this one 🤍

While We’re Young was such a fun, nostalgic read! I generally enjoy K.L. Walther’s stories, and this one was no exception—especially since I’m a big Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fan. I really hope the target audience recognizes the nods to the movie, but even if they don’t, it’s still a great coming-of-age story about making the most of those final moments before heading off to college.

I also had a soft spot for this book because I live in the area and have my own memories of day trips to Philly, which made it feel extra special. The adventure, the friendships, and the little moments of self-discovery all made this such an enjoyable ride.

My only complaint? The ending. It felt like we were left hanging without much closure on some of the conflicts that came up throughout the day. I would’ve loved to see how things played out for the characters beyond their whirlwind adventure—unless there’s a sequel planned, which I would absolutely be here for!

Love love love K.L Walther. Her books are so fun. I love the little clues she puts in for taylor swift and the movies that she's inspired by. This book was soo fun and I love the characters. I love the hidden meanings and seeing deeper into them.

A two-for-one friends to lovers + if Ferris Bueller's Day Off took place in 2024 Philadelphia!

While We're Young by K.L. Walther follows a once unbreakable trio (Isa, Grace and Everett) and their last-ditch attempt to rebuild their friendship before they graduate and go their separate ways. After Everett broke Isa's heart Freshman year, the trio became Grace & Isa, and.. Everett. However, unknown to Isa, Grace is secretly in love with Everett, and, unknown to Grace, Isa is secretly in love with Grace's Irish twin brother, James (and thus gives us the two-for-one friends to lovers !!!).

Grace plans an epic day for Isa and Everett, trying to recreate the magic Everett's late father used to plan for the foursome. Racing up the famous Rocky steps and taste-testing Philly cheesesteaks while trying to find the perfect moment to tell each other their respective secrets made for a quick, easy and atmospheric read that made me want to simultaneously book a trip to Philadelphia and rewatch Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

I'm slowly but surely realizing I'm aging out of the Young Adult genre, unfortunately. While I do still love and have a soft-spot for overly-sweet, quick, low stakes reads like this one, it's getting increasingly harder for me to find pieces of the story to relate to. Not sure if it was this book specifically, but I kept finding myself getting bored and tired of the juvenile writing, conflicts and pop culture references. I do, however, think this would be a favorite among 13-16 year olds and wish this author's books existed when I was that age.

My last little note -- love that K.L. Walther is so transparently and unashamedly a Swiftie -- I immediately clocked the mention of "Dancing With Our Hands Tied (Taylor's Version)." Walther and I are the same person because like her, I also thought Reputation (Taylor's Version) would have been out by now.

Thank you Delacorte Romance and NetGalley for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!